What do Ron & Mitchell Cushing and Ken Warkentin all have in common? They were all featured guests on the Saturday evening (April 25) episode of the ‘Virtual Tack Room’.
The ‘Virtual Tack Room’ is an interactive web series designed to shed light throughout the harness racing industry while racing across North America continues to remain on a hiatus due to COVID-19. Hosts Lee Drake, Peter MacPhee, race historian Jerry McCabe as well as one of the driving forces behind the ‘Virtual Tack Room’, Kent Oakes interviewed the trio of Old Home Week enthusiasts and revisited some of their most memorable moments.
Track announcer Ken Warkentin was first to fill viewers in on how he has been coping with the effects of COVID-19.
“At first it was a novelty, we treated it like a vacation. I had a very busy schedule before this, calling races at two tracks as well as coaching and playing hockey and then all of a sudden someone said ‘stop’. I took some of Lee’s [Drake] advice and have been writing down a schedule and everyday I try to stick to it, I try to stay informed and have a structure everyday, I’ve done a lot of work around the house and finished a lot of projects and I’ve also tried my best to stay connected with everyone through Skype, and then before you know it the day goes by, and the days have turned into weeks and the weeks have turned into months now. Our target date to get back racing is May 15th, but if I was a betting man, I would say June 5th because we are still the second hardest state to get hit.”
Warkentin, who has called over 200,000 races, selected a few of his most favourite race calls, one being the 2019 Hambletonian for Canadian connections Luc Blais and Bob McClure.
“I took a bit of heat for two words that I said down the stretch and those words were ‘drawing clear’ which I said because it appeared that Greenshoe was going to draw clear and I think Brian Sears was thinking the same thing I was thinking. Bob McClure gave Forbidden Trade a great drive and his horse just had a bit more than the heavily favoured Greenshoe. It was a great race.”
Warkentin continued to describe the atmosphere of the Hambletonian as a day of the stars and discussed the prestigious event as one of the greatest days in harness racing.
The father and son dynamic-duo of Ron and Mitchell Cushing hold very fond memories of Prince Edward Island -- memories which are more recent rather than past, being winners of the coveted Gold Cup & Saucer in 2019 with Rock Diamonds N.
Father Ron was first to provide viewers with an update on how he is keeping during unprecedented times.
“We are doing good, everyone is keeping healthy, we moved back to Maine about three weeks ago and we’ve just been concentrating on the two- and three-year-olds for now and just keeping the older horses happy, giving them lots of field time. It’s like the movie ‘Groundhog Day’. It's just one day after another, some days are colder than others, today was a beautiful day but they’re calling for 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow so that should keep things interesting. I’ve been able to get a lot of things done around the farm that I was wanting to get done so it’s been nice to relax a bit and get things done but it’s nothing compared to what we’re used to.”
Mitchell Cushing filled viewers in on how he is coping with the shut down from Saratoga.
“Things are good, I’ve been pretty bored. I’m thankful for the area I’m in, it’s very nice. I’ve been playing a lot of Xbox until two in the morning and then sleeping in until noon. I stole my dog back from my parents because I can have him at the place where I’m living so we go for hour long walks or so every day. I’d like to be making money but we’re making the most of it, there's nothing we can do about it right now so we’re just waiting for an idea of when we will be back racing -- a light at the end of the tunnel would be nice and when they tell us we can go, we’ll be ready.”
The father-son duo then discussed how exactly they found themselves in Prince Edward Island last August for a race known as Canada’s very own Little Brown Jug.
“I have a lot of Canadian connections with Gilles Barrieau and the Hennesseys and everyone kept telling me that I needed to go to the Gold Cup and I also found out that it was my mother’s dream to go to the Gold Cup & Saucer with my father. So, my brother, my fiance Heidi, Mitchell and I all discussed that this was something that we needed to do. My plan was to just get them both into the final, and we did that. Mitchell, like a typical catch-driver asked me ‘which one do I get to drive?’ I told him he was going to drive the winner and I told him he was going to drive Rock Diamonds N no matter where he drew. Once in a while a plan comes together and works out -- it doesn't happen often in my lifetime but it did this one time and it was great,” Ron noted.
“If I had the opportunity to do it again, I most definitely would like to get to spend more time there during Old Home Week and see more of the Island,” added Mitchell. “Going into the race my dad didn't give me a lot of instructions, he [Rock Diamonds N] is a horse that if you take care of him and show him what’s going on, he can do anything. It was a sense of relief that we got the job done for my Grandma, my dad works very hard and it was such a cool feeling to complete something for my family. It was an exciting experience but it was more so just so gratifying to complete something and be a part of something so special for my family.”
“I have to give a lot of credit to Heidi as well, she is a rock and she loves the horses endlessly, she works day in and day out on them, and we wouldn't have anything without her,” Ron added.
The episode which featured the voice of the biggest race in harness racing and the father-son champion duo of one of Canada’s biggest races is available for viewing below courtesy Universum Media.